Meet Gryphony

Say hello to the newest player in the limited time, limited edition t-shirt game: Gryphony.com

We first heard about the site late last year, when it was still in development, and kept in contact with the guys behind it through their recent launch. They shipped us a sample of their first design (which we’ll be doing a hands on review of soon) and asked us to check out the site once it went live.

The site’s been open for just a short while now, but has already featured artwork from prominent artists like Wotto and some beautiful work like today’s, from Alvarejo:

Like its predecessors (RIPT, teefury and woot to name just a few), Grpyhony offers each first-run design for a limited period of time before it’s “gone forever.” Right now, that period of time is 72 hours, which is probably a smart move – allowing them more breathing room to get good designs and more sales while they’re still working to build a following.(If you like them, help them out with that and follow them on twitter and facebook)

Each tee is priced at $16 each – which is significantly higher than either Teefury ($9 each), RIPT ($10) or Woot ($10), but it’s important to note that they’re also offering artists $2.00 per shirt sold – which is also significantly higher than most competitors.

As a side note: I wonder how much the higher price point will affect sales. Though it’s pretty much in line with the cost of a tee from a normal clothing line, it’s a big jump from other in the same space.

I also wonder if price hikes from the other guys aren’t too far behind – the price of cotton and fuel are going up, both of which affects the bottom line of how much it costs to produce a shirt. The bigger guys will be able to absorb the cost for a while, but eventually they’ll have to start passing it on to customers.

The thing is, though there’s only three designs to base it on right now, Gryphony seems to be offering designs with a more artistic slant than those normally seen on the other daily tee sites. If they keep it up, they may have found their niche and people may be OK with the premium cost. It’s a void that’s existed since the shut down of Teextile.

There’s nothing revolutionary in their interface (though it’s clean and easy to use) so their real shot of standing out is going to be in terms of what products they offer and how they treat their artists. (Tony – Thanks for a link to the vistaprint free shipping coupon!)

What do you think of the newest limited-time tee site? How do you feel about the $16 price point? Let us know in the comments below: